Motivation: Modern genomic breeding methods rely heavily on very large amounts of phenotyping and genotyping data, presenting new challenges in effective data management and integration. Recently, the size and complexity of datasets have increased significantly, with the result that data are often stored on multiple systems. As analyses of interest increasingly require aggregation of datasets from diverse sources, data exchange between disparate systems becomes a challenge. Results: To facilitate interoperability among breeding applications, we present the public plant Breeding Application Programming Interface (BrAPI). BrAPI is a standardized web service API specification. The development of BrAPI is a collaborative, community-based initiative involving a growing global community of over a hundred participants representing several dozen institutions and companies. Development of such a standard is recognized as critical to a number of important large breeding system initiatives as a foundational technology. The focus of the first version of the API is on providing services for connecting systems and retrieving basic breeding data including germplasm, study, observation, and marker data. A number of BrAPI-enabled applications, termed BrAPPs, have been written, that take advantage of the emerging support of BrAPI by many databases. Availability and implementation: More information on BrAPI, including links to the specification, test suites, BrAPPs, and sample implementations is available at https://brapi.org/. The BrAPI specification and the developer tools are provided as free and open source.

The production and use of organic fertilizers and bioinputs can improve soil management and support more sustainable agricultural systems; however, evidence on their adoption following training programs among smallholder avocado farmers remains limited. This study evaluated whether participation in a training program on the production and use of organic fertilizers and bioinputs was associated with technical knowledge, adoption of promoted practices, and perceived barriers among avocado farmers in Moquegua, Peru. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted with 97 farmers. Propensity score matching yielded 34 matched pairs of participants and controls, followed by Rosenbaum sensitivity analysis and multivariable regression. Participants showed greater technical knowledge (17.50 vs. 6.67; p < 0.001) and a higher composite adoption index (2.59 vs. 1.73; p < 0.001). Although adoption varied across practices, participants reported higher frequencies across practices than controls. These differences were robust to hypothetical hidden bias (Γ > 6). Training participation remained associated with both outcomes after adjustment for observed sociodemographic and farm-related characteristics. Two of eight barriers were less frequent among participants, whereas barriers related to knowledge, time, and financial resources remained common in both groups. Overall, training participation was associated with greater knowledge and adoption, although barriers to practice implementation remained.